ITHF table hockey

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Table hockey being played

Countries where table hockey is played (at least one ranked player)^[1]

Table hockey is a sport played on table hockey games. The International Table Hockey Federation (ITHF) uses only table hockeys made by Stiga.^[2] The origin of the sport was the Swedish Championship 1982 in Upplands Väsby. Organized table hockey is played in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, in North America and in Japan.

The World Championship is organized by the ITHF every two years. The Stiga Play Off game is the official game of the Table Hockey World Championship.

Sweden has dominated the table hockey scene from the beginning and a couple of years into the new millennium. Until the Finnish gold in Riga 2005, Sweden had won all Team World Championships, until 2006 only Swedes had won the Open Swedish Masters, and until 2007 all individual world champions were Swedes. But the new generation comes from Finland, Russia, the Czech Republic and Latvia, and its current big star is Roni Nuttunen from Finland who in the past season won all major tournaments he participated in, including the two greatest: Swedish Masters and the world championships.

Since the sport expands quickly in many countries, the table hockey map may have to be redrawn within a couple of years when nations other than the big six (Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Norway and Latvia) produce new talents.

History

First table hockeys were made in the 1930s in Sweden and Finland. Naturally there was no plastic, so they were made from sheet metal.

Usage of plastic brought in expansion of table hockey. The Swedish company Stiga started to make hockeys in the late 1950s. Thanks to enthusiasm of Swedish players, table hockey expanded to surrounding world.

Big worldwide development arrived in the late 1990s. That led to an idea founding an international federation. ITHF was established during the World Championship 2005 in Riga, Latvia. Now it associates sixteen national federations.

Especially in Sweden, Finland, Russia, Czech Republic, Norway and Latvia, table hockey is quite popular. But it is growing in lots of countries and there are many tournaments played every week.

Game rules

A player figure with puck.

A plastic glass, which helps to keep the puck in play. It is attached to the table behind the goal.

Table hockey face-off

Table hockey mechanics of player movement.

These are the most important rules. Whole rules.

Game model and preparation

Stiga games must be used.
Goal cups must be removed.
Games must be fastened to the table.
The speed of the game’s surface must be kept the same as the usual factory surface speed.

Playing figures

Figures from the Play-off version (all figures have the stick on the same side) of Stiga table hockey games must be used.

Matches

Matches last five minutes.
Time runs even if the puck is out of play.
An audio timer should be used for all matches.
If any player retires during a match when the opponent insists on continuing, he/she automatically loses all his/her goals scored during the game, while the opponent may add an extra five goals to his/her score.
During the play-off matches, in the event of a draw at the end of the five minutes, there is an overtime. The overtime starts with a new face-off. The winner is the one who scores the first goal (sudden death).

Face-offs

All matches begin with the puck placed at centre spot. Game starts with the opening signal. If any player plays the puck before the signal, face-off is made.
Face-offs are made by dropping the puck on the centre spot.

Centre forwards and left defenders must stay on their own side of the centre red line during a face-off.

Players must be sure that their opponent is ready before releasing the puck. If the face-off is made wrong the opponent is allowed to ask for a new one or he/she may make a new face-off by himself/herself. If a player makes a lot of bad drops in a play-off match, the opponent can ask for a neutral dropper.
Three seconds must elapse after each face-off before a valid goal can be scored. This rule is in effect even if a neutral person is making the face-off.
The puck must hit the sideboards, or a playing figure other than the center must gain control of the puck before a goal can be counted.

Scoring

The puck must stay in the goal cage for the goal to count. In and outs do not count. If the puck goes out from the goal cage, the match continues without interruption.
The puck must be removed from the puck catcher (if there is any) before the next face off.
A goal scored directly by pressing a motionless puck against the goal cage or against the goalie does not count. A goal scored in this way indirectly (off the bank or off another figure) counts.
If a goal is scored when the final buzzer is sounding, the goal is not valid.
If any figure or goalie breaks when a goal is scored, the goal is valid.
A goal scored by moving the whole game is not valid.

Goal crease rule

If the puck is in full rest in goal crease and is touching the goal line the defending player may call “block” and a new face-off is made.
If the puck is in full rest in goal crease and is not touching the goal line the defending player must play the puck.

Possession rule

It is not permitted to retain possession of the puck without making any recognizable attempt to score a goal. This is regarded as passive play.
If the puck is kept in possession by one figure without passing or shooting, a warning can be given by the opponent after five (5) seconds has elapsed since the figure gained puck control.

Interference

A player can tap down his/her figures only when he/she has complete possession of the puck.
If a player scores a goal while the opponent is tapping his/her figures, the goal counts.
Rough playing that results in shaking of the game and causing the puck to move is forbidden.
If any figure loses possession of the puck due to shaking of the game, then the puck must be returned to this figure.

Interruption

If any unusual situation happens (e.g. broken gear, rod or game, displaced goal cage, lights go out, several pucks appear on the game or somebody/something interrupts any of the opponents), the match must be immediately suspended. A player can interrupt the game by saying „stop” if the opponent is not aware of such situation. The match resumes when both players are ready again.
If a match is interrupted and significant time is lost then the lost time must be added to remaining time and the match continues.
If a player had indisputable control of the puck before the interruption, the match continues with the puck in the place where it was, otherwise a new face-off is made.

Tournaments

Tables prepared for a tournament

The ITHF divides individual tournaments to six levels.

Level 1 Tournaments history

World Champs, Continental Champs (including Stiga North American Champs and European Champs)

World Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
1989	Stockholm, Sweden	Mikael Kratz	42 (7 nationalities)
1992	Brno, Czechoslovakia	Jacob Lindahl	32 (5 nationalities)
1993	Paris, France	Anders Ekestubbe	61 (9 nationalities)
1995	Stockholm, Sweden	Jacob Lindahl	66 (8 nationalities)
1997	Helsinki, Finland	Hans Österman	61 (9 nationalities)
1999	Wilhelmshaven, Germany	Stefan Edwall	71 (15 nationalities)
2001	Plzeň, Czech Republic	Hans Österman	100 (16 nationalities)
2003	Zurich, Switzerland	Daniel Wallén	102 (19 nationalities)
2005	Riga, Latvia	Hans Österman	132 (22 nationalities)
2007	Moscow, Russia	Roni Nuttunen	117 (19 nationalities)
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Roni Nuttunen	131 (16 nationalities)
2011	Turku, Finland	Oleg Dmitrichenko	105 (17 nationalities)
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Atis Silis	121 (23 nationalities)
2015	St. Petersburg, Russia	Maxim Borisov	108 (16 nationalities)

European Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
1990	Lund, Sweden	Jörgen Sundqvist	63 (9 nationalities)
1992	Brno, Czechoslovakia	Mikael Kratz	75 (5 nationalities)
2006	Skalica, Slovakia	Alexey Zakharov	111 (17 nationalities)
2008	Riga, Latvia	Ahti Lampi	103 (10 nationalities)
2010	Överum, Sweden	Ahti Lampi	82 (9 nationalities)
2012	Riga, Latvia	Maxim Borisov	106 (13 nationalities)
2014	Riga, Latvia	Maxim Borisov	122 (14 nationalities)

North American Championships history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
2008	Detroit, USA	Kenny Dubois	38 (3 nationalities)
2009	Detroit, USA	Bernie Kunzler	36 (3 nationalities)
2010	Detroit, USA	Bjarne Axelsen	34 (4 nationalities)
2011	Detroit, USA	Bjarne Axelsen	25 (4 nationalities)
2012	Detroit, USA	Bjarne Axelsen	48 (4 nationalities)
2013	Detroit, USA	Bjarne Axelsen	42 (3 nationalities)
2014	Livonia, USA	Bruce Turner	40 (2 nationalities)
2015	Detroit, USA	Karl Jönsson	40 (4 nationalities)

Level 2 Tournaments

Big 6, World Champs Special Classes, Continental Champs Special Classes

World Women Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
1992	Brno, Czechoslovakia	Nathalie Biais	6 (3 nationalities)
1993	Paris, France	Sissie Wikström	9 (5 nationalities)
1995	Stockholm, Sweden	Chatrin Johansson	12 (6 nationalities)
1997	Helsinki, Finland	Sissie Wikström	8 (5 nationalities)
1999	Wilhelmshaven, Germany	Tarja Lindberg	8 (3 nationalities)
2001	Plzeň, Czech Republic	Piia Pulliainen	12 (6 nationalities)
2003	Zurich, Switzerland	Piia Pulliainen	22 (8 nationalities)
2005	Riga, Latvia	Piia Pulliainen	21 (8 nationalities)
2007	Moscow, Russia	Alexia Belavina	15 (6 nationalities)
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Maria Yalbacheva	23 (9 nationalities)
2011	Turku, Finland	Maria Yalbacheva	16 (7 nationalities)
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Maria Miloradova	18 (9 nationalities)
2015	St. Petersburg, Russia	Viktoria Laricheva	18 (8 nationalities)

World Junior Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
1997	Helsinki, Finland	Mikael Lindberg	9 (5 nationalities)
1999	Wilhelmshaven, Germany	Erno Lantiainen	8 (4 nationalities)
2001	Plzeň, Czech Republic	Miikka Pulliainen	14 (7 nationalities)
2003	Zurich, Switzerland	Alexey Zaharov	24 (10 nationalities)
2005	Riga, Latvia	Roni Nuttunen	26 (11 nationalities)
2007	Moscow, Russia	Roni Nuttunen	22 (8 nationalities)
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Ahti Lampi	29 (10 nationalities)
2011	Turku, Finland	Maxim Borisov	20 (8 nationalities)
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Maxim Borisov	25 (10 nationalities)
2015	St. Petersburg, Russia	Mikhail Shashkov	20 (9 nationalities)

World Veteran Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
2005	Riga, Latvia	Thomas Petersson	24 (11 nationalities)
2007	Moscow, Russia	Pavel Plešák	25 (13 nationalities)
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Pontus Eriksson	35 (12 nationalities)
2011	Turku, Finland	Dmitriy Petrov	24 (11 nationalities)
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Alexey Titov	36 (16 nationalities)
2015	St. Petersburg, Russia	Stanislav Lutay	39 (14 nationalities)

European Women Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
1992	Brno, Czechoslovakia	Nathalie Biais	7 (4 nationalities)
2006	Skalica, Slovakia	Alexandra Belavina	17 (7 nationalities)
2008	Riga, Latvia	Maria Yalbacheva	14 (7 nationalities)
2010	Överum, Sweden	Maria Yalbacheva	15 (6 nationalities)
2012	Riga, Latvia	Viktoria Laricheva	20 (8 nationalities)
2014	Riga, Latvia	Viktoria Laricheva	18 (8 nationalities)

European Junior Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
2006	Skalica, Slovakia	Edgars Caics	24 (6 nationalities)
2008	Riga, Latvia	Ahti Lampi	22 (8 nationalities)
2010	Överum, Sweden	Matiss Saulitis	25 (7 nationalities)
2012	Riga, Latvia	Maxim Borisov	25 (7 nationalities)
2014	Riga, Latvia	Jan Pelkonen	35 (11 nationalities)

European Veteran Championship history

Year	Location	Winner	No. of Participants
2006	Skalica, Slovakia	Pavel Plešák	28 (9 nationalities)
2008	Riga, Latvia	Pavel Plešák	26 (10 nationalities)
2010	Överum, Sweden	Janne Kokko	20 (6 nationalities)
2012	Riga, Latvia	Jan Dryák	39 (12 nationalities)
2014	Riga, Latvia	Lars Henriksson	41 (13 nationalities)

Big Six Tournament

Name	Location	State	season
Norway Open	Oslo, Bergen	Norway	1996/1997, 1999/2000 - 2013/2014
Helsinki Open	Helsinki	Finland	2003/2004 - 2013/2014
Riga Open	Riga	Latvia	1999/2000, 2003/2003 - 2013/2014
Swedish Masters	Upplands Väsby, Stockholm, Enköping, Gothenburg, Jönköping, Eskilstuna, Överum, Solna, Malmö	Sweden	1982/1983 - 1983/1984, 1985/1986 - 2013/2014
Moscow Cup	Moscow, Mytishchi	Russia	2001/2002 - 2013/2014
Czech Open	Prague, Plzeň, Příbram, Liberec, Letovice	Czech Republic	2002/2003 - 2013/2014

Level 3 Tournaments

World Tour, Regional Championships, Continental Tours, National Championships (if 1 tournament per year)

Level 4 Tournaments

National Tours, Regional Tours, National Champs Special Classes, Regional Championships Special Classes

Level 5 Tournaments

Local Leagues

Level 6 Tournaments

National Tour Special Classes, Local Junior Tournaments, Local Leagues Special Classes, Other Tournaments

Level 10 (Team) Tournaments

World Men's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
1992	Brno, Czechoslovakia	Sweden	4
1993	Paris, France	Sweden	15
1995	Stockholm, Sweden	Sweden	15
1997	Helsinki, Finland	Sweden II	14
1999	Wilhelmshaven, Germany	Sweden	8
2001	Plzeň, Czech Republic	Sweden	13
2003	Zurich, Switzerland	Sweden	14
2005	Riga, Latvia	Finland	16
2007	Moscow, Russia	Sweden	15
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Russia	15
2011	Turku, Finland	Russia	12
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Russia	15

World Women's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2005	Riga, Latvia	Russia	6
2007	Moscow, Russia	Russia	4
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Russia	6
2011	Turku, Finland	Finland	3
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Russia	4

World Jnior's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2011	Turku, Finland	Russia	7
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Russia	7

World Veteran's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2009	Budapest, Hungary	Sweden	10
2011	Turku, Finland	Russia	7
2013	Stavanger, Norway	Sweden	9

European Men's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
1990	Lund, Sweden	Sweden III	15
1992	Brno, Czechoslovakia	Sweden	8
2006	Skalica, Slovakia	Czech Republic	12
2008	Riga, Latvia	Finland	10
2010	Överum, Sweden	Sweden	8
2012	Riga, Latvia	Russia	10
2014	Riga, Latvia	Latvia	11

European Woman's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2006	Skalica, Slovakia	Czech Republic	4
2008	Riga, Latvia	Russia	4
2010	Överum, Sweden	Russia	4
2012	Riga, Latvia	Russia	4
2014	Riga, Latvia	Russia	4

European Junior's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2010	Överum, Sweden	Russia	6
2012	Riga, Latvia	Russia	6
2014	Riga, Latvia	Ukraine	9

European Veteran's Team Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2008	Riga, Latvia	Sweden	8
2010	Överum, Sweden	Russia	5
2012	Riga, Latvia	Czech Republic	6
2014	Riga, Latvia	Russia	11

World Club Championship history

Year	Location	Winning team	No. of Teams
2007	Oslo, Norway	Enköping HSC	20 (7 nationalities)
2010	Liberec, Czech Republic	RTHF United Team	26 (8 nationalities)
2012	St. Petersburg, Russia	BJC Laimite	17 (5 nationalities)
2014	Letovice, Czech Republic	BJC Laimite	31 (10 nationalities)

World Table Hockey Tour

In 2003/04, the first world wide league, EuroLeague, was created. 6 tournaments formed the league, The tournaments were Helsinki Open, Oslo Open, Riga Cup, Swedish Masters, Moscow Open and Czech Open.

The league has changed name to World Table Hockey Tour, and consists every year of around 15 tournaments. The original 6 tournaments are still regarded as the most important tournaments, and are called the Big Six tournaments.

List of all ITHF tournaments played. Click on the links to see playoff results:

Tournament Name	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	City
World Championships		x		x		x		x		x		x	Various
European Championships			x		x		x		x		x		Various
Canada Challenge			x	x	x								Gatineau
Canada Cup										x	x	x	Toronto
Edmonton Centennial Challenge							x	x	x	x	x	x	Edmonton
Rose Bowl Classic						x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Montreal
Czech Open	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Various
Oresund Cup			x	x	x	x							Elsinore/Copenhagen
Trophy of Denmark							x	x	x		x		Bronderslev
Tallinn Cup					x	x							Tallinn
Helsinki Open	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Helsinki
Berlin Open			x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Berlin
Hungarian Open			x	x	x	x	x	x	x				Budapest/Komarom
Kursk Cup												x	Kursk
Moscow Cup	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Moscow
Sankt-Petersburg Open							x	x	x	x	x	x	St. Petersburg
Oslo Open	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Oslo
Riga Open	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Riga
Ventspils Cup										x	x	x	Ventspils
Bratislava Open			x	x	x								Bratislava
Kosice Open								x		x			Kosice
Slovenia Open						x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Kranj
Swedish Masters	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Various
Swiss Open					x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Various
Azov Masters										x	x		Mariupol
Ukraine Cup					x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Kyiv
Boston Challenge		x	x	x	x								Boston
Stiga Las Vegas			x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x		Las Vegas
Stiga North American Championships							x	x	x	x	x	x	Detroit
Stiga U.S. Open				x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	Chicago/Lemont

ITHF World ranking

Top nations by ITHF world ranking^[3]

15000+ points

10000+ points

5000+ points

up-to-date: 27 April 2009

The World ranking table sorts players by their actual rank points. The ranking is sum of player's best results in last two years. Points, which player gets for participating in any reported tournament are counted on the basis of: level of the tournament, number of players beaten and world ranking of players beaten. A winner of the World Championship gets always 1010 points and a winner of Europe Championship and North America Championship gets at least 510 points. World ranking with a reduced coefficient calculated points to six years. In the world ranking is more than 10 000 players from more than 50 countries and six continents.^[4]

ITHF ranking - nations

Rank points of a country is sum of its five best players. The table below shows top five nations as of 23 December 2014. Complete table

Rank	Nation	Top player (Rank)	Rank points
1	Russia	Maxim Borisov (1)	22240
2	Latvia	Edgars Caics (2)	20988
3	Finland	Ahti Lampi (3)	20635
4	Sweden	Carl Bindekrans (17)	19572
5	Czech Republic	Petr Tměj (19)	19150
6	Ukraine	Yevgen Levdansky (10)	17394
7	Norway	Yngve Aasheim (66)	15944
8	Slovakia	Imrich Blaško (68)	14304
9	Estonia	Jevgeni Lvov (97)	13644
10	Denmark	Bjarne Axelsen (58)	12336

ITHF ranking - open

Rank	Nation	Player	Rank points
1	Russia	Maxim Borisov	4704
2	Latvia	Edgars Caics	4586
3	Finland	Ahti Lampi	4567
4	Latvia	Atis Silis	4554
5	Russia	Alexey Zaharov	4520
6	Russia	Yanis Galuzo	4399
7	Russia	Alexander Miloradov	4354
8	Russia	Dmitriy Koshman	4263
9	Russia	Ivan Zaharov	4192
10	Ukraine	Yevgen Levdansky	4187

ITHF ranking - ladies

Rank (Open rank)	Nation	Player	Rank points
1 (60)	Russia	Viktoria Laricheva	3480
2 (112)	Estonia	Maria Saveljeva	3093
3 (124)	Russia	Maria Yalbacheva	3022
4 (132)	Russia	Irina Belavina	3010
5 (198)	Sweden	Caroline Eriksson	2691

Notes

External links

Federations

[1] ITHF world nations ranking

[2] ITHF table hockey rules

[3] ITHF world nations ranking

[4] ITHF World Ranking

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]